Hi everyone. This is the 1st time I have ever owned a pit bull and ever since our family decided to keep Knuckles I have been getting static from family members. In my home I have two young children and 2 other large breed dogs.

Today I received a call from my husbands 87 y/o grandfather telling me to put on Judge Judy that there was an interesting case about a Pit Bull attack. This is not the 1st time this has occurred. I politely replied, "Don't worry grandpa I have educated myself about Pit Bull's and I do not leave him or any of my dogs alone with the children."

Has anyone had this problem from their own families and how do you handle it?

I've been really lucky with my family. They all love Kato and have been very accepting of having a Pit Bull in the family.

A couple of years ago I lost power in the middle of a terrible heat wave, so my sister and I packed our dogs up and went to stay with my Mom in a senior building for a few days. I was shocked at the attitude of the people in the building. No one would get on the elevator with Kato and one man wouldn't walk his little dog past him in the hall.

On the morning of the second day I was wondering where Kato and my sister were, so I went outside and Kato was hanging out in the front with all of his senior "girlfriends," giving kisses and getting tons of love. He changed a lot of minds in those few days.

some of my family will not come to my house because of rufus. yet they are fine with a gsd and a rott. go figure.. my parents were very upset when i got rufus. said he was going to kill me and my family... LOL.. you just have to have a tough skin with this breed. some of your family may come around, some may not...

by getting your dog's cgc and therapy titles you can show the people that this breed is a great breed. if you need help with his therapy title let me know, and i am a cgc tester in nj so i can give Kato the cgc test anytime.

I am in Long Island. I am completely psyched to come up for the
Bull-ympics. In fact, we already asked my in-laws who live outside of Oneonta to watch the kids for the weekend so my husband and I can be there.

Knuckles has already passed Beginner Obedience with flying colors. He will soon be starting agility (once his demodectic mange settles a bit).

Please also note I have my awesome sweatshirt from Badrap.org which says, "My Best Friend is a Pit Bull." I am very proud of my Pit and what he stands for.

I know we can't change everyone's opinion about the breed in one day although it is disappointing but I can try one person at a time.

-Mary Ann

mnp13 wrote:Where are you located? if you are anywhere within driving distance (like 6 hours or so!!!) of Syracuse, NY I would encourage you to attend the Bull-ympics - http://www.bull-ympics.com

you will be able to get your CGC and TT there, then when people start the 'vicious pit bull' routine you can ask them if their dog has titles that back up that they are trained and well mannered!

you should check out bullyvw's cafe press store once he gets it up here, he has TONS of cool shirts, and so does MNP13, her Ruby site is up under the cafe press section on the bottom of the site, she has AWESOME shirts and can custom make them for you too.....

As soon as anyone starts beaking off about pit bulls in a negative way I just put on my big smile and start talking about how awesome they are and BLAH BLAH BLAH. They don't even get a word in edgewise while my happy dogs schmooze them up or my kids are hugging them and getting kisses from them. I'm not very close to my family and most of them passed judgement on me for my life choices before pit bulls even became part of my life so number one, my skin was already thick and number two, they have realized their opinions are irrelevant to me as are most peoples, and number three, they have gained enough respect for me sticking to my guns and coming out on top that I think they have enough faith in my judgement. My mum is the one I am closest to and she loves my dogs. She lives in Ontario and is very upset about the whole ban issue and has no qualms about stating that her grandkids are loved by pit bulls. I gotta get her one of those my grandkids are pit bull shirts!

satanscheerleader wrote: I gotta get her one of those my grandkids are pit bull shirts!

hmmmm... and I just happen to know someone who makes those shirts with photos of your dogs on them!

That was a smooth sales pitch! :rofl:

Hell, I liked it...I'm going to be getting one for my mother soon enough.

As far as my family...Ralph seems to have changed everyone's minds. At first, my cousins, my dumb dad, and even my sister were quite unsure of the situation. Less than a year later...he's family, to all of them.

luvmyangels wrote:I am in Long Island. I am completely psyched to come up for the Bull-ympics. In fact, we already asked my in-laws who live outside of Oneonta to watch the kids for the weekend so my husband and I can be there.

Knuckles has already passed Beginner Obedience with flying colors. He will soon be starting agility (once his demodectic mange settles a bit).

Please also note I have my awesome sweatshirt from Badrap.org which says, "My Best Friend is a Pit Bull." I am very proud of my Pit and what he stands for.

I know we can't change everyone's opinion about the breed in one day although it is disappointing but I can try one person at a time.

-Mary Ann

I can recommend a great trainer on Long Island. His name is Jesse Effman. He is a NY State Certified dog trainer.

I adopted Birdie from him. He pulled her from the Oyster Bay Animal Shelter, fostered her and trained her for four months until we found him.

Birdie is working on becoming a service dog now.

BTW - if you adopted your dog from a shelter on LI, make sure he has ALL of his distemper shots. We found out that Birdie didn't have the second shot and wasn't protected against distemper.

My Vet called the shelter and gave them hell, but they told him they only give the first shot, not the second. Which leaves the dog unprotected.

Moral courage is the most valuable and usually the most absent characteristic in men ~ General George S. Patton, Jr.

She taking all the stars down from her sky to hang them up someplace new, where there's better weather and the sky's a different blue. ~ Autumn Fields

Romanwild wrote:Train him to be well mannered and don't hide him and you'll change peoples minds as time goes on. That's the most important thing.

Think about getting him the Caninine Good Citizen and the Therapy Dog Certification.

This is SO important. I wish I had known this years ago. And those here who know me, know why I wish that!
The media has done its job of stirring up a frenzy regarding this breed and it is up to each and every bully owner to step forward proactively and show people that this breed is incomparable in loyalty, love, devotion and just plain COOL! We owe it to our dogs and our fellow responsible owners to show the public what the breed is really all about. It can be tempting after getting bad reactions from the public to walk out the door without our dogs, but one little opportunity may change the mind of someone who may in turn say to thier neighbor..."well, I met the most awesome pit bull the other day". Little by little we CAN make a difference!!!
Leisa

Romanwild wrote:Train him to be well mannered and don't hide him and you'll change peoples minds as time goes on. That's the most important thing.

Think about getting him the Caninine Good Citizen and the Therapy Dog Certification.

This is SO important. I wish I had known this years ago. And those here who know me, know why I wish that!The media has done its job of stirring up a frenzy regarding this breed and it is up to each and every bully owner to step forward proactively and show people that this breed is incomparable in loyalty, love, devotion and just plain COOL! We owe it to our dogs and our fellow responsible owners to show the public what the breed is really all about. It can be tempting after getting bad reactions from the public to walk out the door without our dogs, but one little opportunity may change the mind of someone who may in turn say to thier neighbor..."well, I met the most awesome pit bull the other day". Little by little we CAN make a difference!!!Leisa

My next door neighbor is a police officer and where he works he sees pit bulls in bad situations all the time. He wanted to bring one home in the worst way but his fiance is scared of them. One day when I was leaving my house I saw my neighbor and told him I was going to be keeping Knuckles and he was really excited. I told him to bring his fiance over so she can meet Knuckles and see what a nice boy he is. She is scared but I will get her over here and break her from that fear. One kiss from him will cure anyone of their fear.